Street Fighting[1]

Published:Vperyod, No. 11, March 23 (10), 1905.

      Published according to the text inVperyod.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Foreign Languages Publishing House,1962,

      Moscow,Volume 8,

      pages237-238.Translated:Bernard Isaacs and The Late Isidor LaskerTranscription\Markup:R. CymbalaPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive

      (2003).You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.•README

(The Advice of a General of the Commune)

Editors’foreword: The article presented below is a translation from the
memoirs of Cluseret, a famous leader of the Paris Commune. As is evident from
the short biographical sketch here given, Cluseret based his considerations
chiefly, though not exclusively, on the experience of the Paris street
uprisings. Moreover, he had in mind specifically a revolution of the
proletariat against all propertied classes, whereas we in Russia are now
experiencing a revolution which is largely a movement of the whole people
against the government clique. It goes without saying, therefore, that
Cluseret’s original ideas should serve the Russian proletariat only as material
for an independent analysis of the experience of the West-European comrades with
a view to its adaptation to our own conditions. We believe it would be useful to
acquaint the reader briefly with the author’s life, which is not devoid of
interest.

Gustave-PaulCluseret was born in Paris on June 13, 1823. He studied at the
Military School of Saint-Cyr, from which he graduated in 1843 as a second
lieutenant. In 1848, with the rank of lieutenant, he took a very active part in
suppressing the workers’ revolt in Paris (the June Days). Within six hours he
took eleven barricades and captured three banners. For this “heroic
deed” he was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honour. In 1855, now a
captain, he fought in the Crimean campaign, and then retired. He served under
Garibaldi in Italy’s war of liberation. In 1861 he went to America, where he
fought in the Civil War against the slave states. He was raised to the rank of
general and (after the victory at Cross Keys) was granted American
citizenship. He thenreturned to France. In 1868 he received a prison term for his articles in the
      newspaperL’Art.In Sainte-Pélagie prison he became connected
    with leaders of the International. His sharp military criticisms in the
    newspapers resulted in his deportation as an American citizen. Upon the
    proclamation of the Republic (September 4, 1870), he returned to Paris and
    took part in the attempts at a revolt in Lyons and in Marseilles. On April
    3, 1871, he was appointed Minister of War of the Commune. On April 16, he
    was elected a member of the Commune. For surrendering Fort Issy he was
    dismissed by the Commune and arrested,but he was acquitted by a court of
    honour. After the amnesty of 1881 he returned to France and contributed to
    the newspapersLa CommuneandLa Marseillaise.He was
    sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for inciting the army to
    insubordination and fled from France. In the 1888 elections to the Chamber
    of Deputies he was a candidate of the Revolutionary Party. He waged a
    zealous campaign against parliamentarism and the “Clemencist”
    Radical Party. In 1889 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies by the
    secondarrondissementof Toulon. Belonged to the Socialist Labour
    group. Wrote a bookThe Army and Democracy(1869) and two volumes
    ofMemoirs(1887) dealing with the Commune.

[1]This paragraph is a foreword by Lenin to the translation of Cluseret’s article
published inVperyod, No. 11, March 23 (10), 1905, under the heading
“Street Fighting. (The Advice of a General of the Commune)”. The
translation was edited by Lenin (seeLenin Miscellany XXVI, 1934,
pp. 355-65).